Thummim Perfection (LXX., "truth;" Vulg., "veritas"), Exo 28:30; Deu 33:8; Jdg 1:1; Jdg 20:18; Sa1 14:3, Sa1 14:18; Sa1 23:9; Sa2 21:1. What the "Urim and Thummim" were cannot be determined with any certainty. All we certainly know is that they were a certain divinely-given means by which God imparted, through the high priest, direction and counsel to Israel when these were needed. The method by which this was done can be only a matter of mere conjecture. They were apparently material objects, quite distinct from the breastplate, but something added to it after all the stones had been set in it, something in addition to the breastplate and its jewels. They may have been, as some suppose, two small images, like the teraphim (compare Jdg 17:5; Jdg 18:14, Jdg 18:17, Jdg 18:20; Hos 3:4), which were kept in the bag of the breastplate, by which, in some unknown way, the high priest could give forth his divinely imparted decision when consulted. They were probably lost at the destruction of the temple by Nebuchadnezzar. They were never seen after the return from captivity.

Thunder Often referred to in Scripture (Job 40:9; Psa 77:18; Psa 104:7). James and John were called by our Lord "sons of thunder" (Mar 3:17). In Job 39:19, instead of "thunder," as in the Authorized Version, the Revised Version translates ( ra'amah ) by "quivering main" (marg., "shaking"). Thunder accompanied the giving of the law at Sinai (Exo 19:16). It was regarded as the voice of God (Job 37:2; Psa 18:13; Psa 81:7; compare Joh 12:29). In answer to Samuel's prayer (Sa1 12:17, Sa1 12:18), God sent thunder, and "all the people greatly feared," for at such a season (the wheat-harvest) thunder and rain were almost unknown in Palestine.

Thyatira A city of Asia Minor, on the borders of Lydia and Mysia. Its modern name is Ak-hissar, i.e., "white castle." Here was one of the seven churches (Rev 1:11; Rev 2:18). Lydia, the seller of purple, or rather of cloth dyed with this colour, was from this city (Act 16:14). It was and still is famous for its dyeing. Among the ruins, inscriptions have been found relating to the guild of dyers in that city in ancient times.

Thyine Wood Mentioned only in Rev 18:12 among the articles which would cease to be purchased when Babylon fell. It was called citrus, citron wood, by the Romans. It was the Callitris quadrivalvis of botanists, of the cone-bearing order of trees, and of the cypress tribe of this order. The name of this wood is derived from the Greek word thuein , "to sacrifice," and it was so called because it was burnt in sacrifices, on account of its fragrance. The wood of this tree was reckoned very valuable, and was used for making articles of furniture by the Greeks and Romans. Like the cedars of Lebanon, it is disappearing from the forests of Palestine.

Tiberias A city, the modern Tubarich, on the western shore of the Sea of Tiberias. It is said to have been founded by Herod Antipas (A.D.16), on the site of the ruins of an older city called Rakkath, and to have been thus named by him after the Emperor Tiberius. It is mentioned only three times in the history of our Lord (Joh 6:1, Joh 6:23; Joh 21:1). In 1837 about one-half of the inhabitants perished by an earthquake. The population of the city is now about six thousand, nearly the one-half being Jews. "We do not read that our Lord ever entered this city. The reason of this is probably to be found in the fact that it was practically a heathen city, though standing upon Jewish soil. Herod, its founder, had brought together the arts of Greece, the idolatry of Rome, and the gross lewdness of Asia. There were in it a theatre for the performance of comedies, a forum, a stadium, a palace roofed with gold in imitation of those in Italy, statues of the Roman gods, and busts of the deified emperors. He who was not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel might well hold himself aloof from such scenes as these" (Manning's Those Holy Fields). After the fall of Jerusalem (A.D. 70), Tiberias became one of the chief residences of the Jews in Palestine. It was for more than three hundred years their metropolis. from about A.D.150 the Sanhedrin settled here, and established rabbinical schools, which rose to great celebrity. Here the Jerusalem (or Palestinian) Talmud was compiled about the beginning of the fifth century. To this same rabbinical school also we are indebted for the Masora, a "body of traditions which transmitted the readings of the Hebrew text of the Old Testament, and preserved, by means of the vowel-system, the pronunciation of the Hebrew." In its original form, and in all manuscripts, the Hebrew is written without vowels; hence, when it ceased to be a spoken language, the importance of knowing what vowels to insert between the consonants. This is supplied by the Masora, and hence these vowels are called the "Masoretic vowel-points."

Tiberias, Sea of Called also the Sea of Galilee (q.v.) and of Gennesaret. In the Old Testament it is called the Sea of Chinnereth or Chinneroth. John (Joh 21:1) is the only evangelist who so designates this lake. His doing so incidentally confirms the opinion that he wrote after the other evangelists, and at a period subsequent to the taking of Jerusalem (A.D. 70). Tiberias had by this time become an important city, having been spared by the Romans, and made the capital of the province when Jerusalem was destroyed. It thus naturally gave its name to the lake.

Tibni Building of Jehovah, the son of Ginath, a man of some position, whom a considerable number of the people chose as monarch. For the period of four years he contended for the throne with Omri (Kg1 16:21, Kg1 16:22), who at length gained the mastery, and became sole monarch of Israel.